Taiwan's army shelves extra M1070 transporters for its M1A2T tanks, saying they will stay in the north

Taiwan's army has put on hold a plan to buy more M1070 heavy transporters for its new M1A2T tanks and will first assess how many it actually needs, military sources told the China Times in a report published on Monday, Oct. 19, Taipei time. The trucks were meant to be added in a follow-on purchase once the tank programme closed, but no such case has been drawn up and the item is not in this year's supplementary budget or in next year's budget, according to the report.

The deferral traces back to how the tank deal was funded. According to the China Times, the money set aside for the purchase fell short, so the military chose to secure all 108 tanks first and bought fewer M1070 trucks and less ammunition than planned, intending to make up the shortfall later. With every tank now delivered and the budget for the programme, which the army began in 2019, about to be closed, any further support equipment would need a new budget request.

The sources explained the decision by pointing to where the tanks are expected to fight. In both US wargames and the scenarios the military uses for a Chinese attack, the assault aims straight at the political and economic centre in the north, they said, so the main task of the M1A2T is to hold northern Taiwan rather than race south as reinforcements. Because the tanks would not make long road journeys in wartime, the case for more transporters has come into question. The report also cited the need to manage the signatures that large convoys give off.

The army still has to move tanks long distances in peacetime, mostly to training ranges in the south. The sources said civilian heavy-haul firms can be hired for those trips. The plan now is to build up the full tank force and the basic vehicles it needs first, and only then judge whether the remaining support equipment is worth buying, the report said.

The trucks in question are a heavy pairing. According to an earlier Liberty Times report, the 8x8 M1070A1 tractor has a 700-horsepower engine, armour against 7.62mm small-arms fire, a central tyre-pressure system for rough or damaged ground and a winch for recovering stuck or damaged vehicles. Linked to the five-axle M1000 trailer, which is about 16 metres long, it can carry up to 80 tonnes, enough for a tank weighing more than 70 tonnes, and turns in a radius of about 9 metres. The military said at the time that the combination would help it move heavy equipment, food and ammunition across regions to reinforce front-line units.

The fleet is close to complete. Only the last unit, the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion of the 584th Armored Brigade, is still converting to the new tank, while the brigade's 1st and 3rd battalions and the 269th Brigade's tank unit have already taken up readiness duties, according to the China Times. The 269th Brigade's 3rd Combined Arms Battalion marked its switch to the M1A2T at a ceremony in July and is based in Guishan, Taoyuan, the Liberty Times reported.

The armed forces' Youth Daily News reported on Oct. 13 that the 2nd battalion's 1st tank company had fired the M1A2T's 120mm main gun at the Kengzikou range in Hsinchu, working through shots from a halt at fixed and moving targets and on the move at moving targets. The China Times said the battalion has now completed both day and night live-fire checks.

According to the sources, the battalion should finish its conversion training at the end of October or in early November and then return to tactical training. Its formal activation and assumption of readiness duties is expected between the end of this year and early next year, the report said.